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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

I saw this picture of Dianna Agron wearing the cutest
chevron skirt and thought gotta have it!
Then I got to looking at the style and realized that a high gathered
waist was not the most flattering style for me so I changed my thought to:
gotta make it!

Materials:

One solid color skirt (I used one of my Six Seam Skirts)

3/8” grosgrain ribbon in the color of your choice

Small ric rac in the same color as your other ribbon

Starting at the very bottom I pinned the grosgrain ribbon
around the hem of the skirt. Using
my widest zig zag stitch I sewed the ribbon to the skirt. One down and a seemingly endless amount
left to go!

Next I placed the ric
rac about ¼” from the first ribbon.
I did not pin this in place (well, I tried and after about three pins
realized it was like trying to pin running water in place…the ribbon just kept
moving!). Instead, I held it in
place as I slowly worked it through the machine. Repeat this
pattern until you have the desired number of rows.

I considered stopping right here; this looks great with just
the embellishment at the bottom.
But darn it – I wanted those chevrons!

And how exactly was I going to get those chevrons? Looking at the inspiration photo it
looked like Dianna’s skirt had two “peaks” per side and three “valleys” which
means I needed five “points” per side.
What’s the easiest way to determine where those points should be without
calculators, NASA scientists and prayer? Fold the skirt in half and then half again. Iron the folds and when you open the skirt back up you have
three lines indicating where your “peak” or “valley” should be placed. For symmetry the center should be a
“valley” (or where the chevron point is down). The side seams indicate the other markings where your
“valleys” should be.

Play around
to determine how much of an angle you want for each chevron; I decided that I
wanted to be 6”.

Next, decide where you want your chevrons to start. Place a pin to mark each high and low
point. Starting with the grosgrain
ribbon pin and sew your first chevron in place. You want a nice point for each chevron. I got mine by fiddling and pinching
until I was happy with it. Want to
learn the proper way? Here
is a link on how to miter a corner.

The pattern on Dianna’s skirt has several rows of grosgrain
in the middle. Varying from that I
chose to rotate between grosgrain and ric rac just like the bottom pattern. Repeat until you are pleased with the
number of chevrons you have, or if the thought of pinning another row of angled
ribbon starts to cause murderous thoughts to enter your head – whichever comes
first.

Voila! This
skirt is so cute I quickly got over the disappointment that it didn’t turn me
into a tall leggy beautiful blonde with a beautiful singing voice. Hope you enjoy your skirt as well!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Hawaii is the greatest place in the world. Now, to be fair I haven’t traveled the entire world (yet), but of the places I have been Hawaii tops it all. If you disagree please feel free to send me two round trip tickets to your favorite destination and I will be happy to make a comparison. Until then I am sticking by Hawaii.

Nestled in a small building, in a small town on the BigIsland was a fabulous restaurant – Huli Sue’s. This recipe is a tribute to one of their sauces and a great place that (sadly) is no more.

I feel a little guilty even calling this a recipe because it only contains two ingredients, but together they create condiment magic.

Ingredients:

Ketchup

Chili paste

Instructions:

In a small bowl combine 1T of chili paste for every 3 T of ketchup. Mix well.

This tastes amazing on burgers, french fries, meatloaf…anywhere you used to use ketchup. My husband says it tastes better with shrimp than cocktail sauce. Now – fair warning – this is spicy. I don’t recommend this for anyone who can’t handle heat (small children or anyone from the Midwest). The nice thing about this recipe is you can combine it in the ratio that works best for you. If you feel something can’t be categorized as spicy until there is a sheen of sweat on your brow than by all means switch it up to a 50/50 ratio or higher. Like a little spice? Drop it down to 25/75. Store any leftovers in the fridge.